Optimising Future Human Health By Optimising Birth Outcomes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$876,005.00
Summary
Laureate Professor Smith received an AM for his research on human pregnancy and contributions to Indigenous maternal health. His research has dramatically expanded in the last 5 years to include stillbirth, viral infections during pregnancy, early detection of renal disease, the development of targeted nanoparticles for delivery of therapeutics to the uterus, and data-linkage to test the impact of antenatal care. His research seeks to optimise the health of pregnant women and their children.
Improving Outcomes In Pregnancies Complicated By Asthma: Understanding Mechanisms And Defining Interventions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$707,370.00
Summary
Asthma is a common disease to complicate pregnancy and it is important to identify ways of effectively managing the disease to ensure the fetus has the best possible outcome. The current research focusses on this disease and looks at ways of improving management in pregnancy and improving outcomes for the baby.
Mechanistic And Translational Studies In Female Reproductive Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$631,370.00
Summary
The womb is essential for a health pregnancy. This research aims to determine how the womb interacts with embryos to ensure a healthy pregnancy forms. Cells in the womb can also grow abnormally and result in endometrial cancer. New treatments for endometrial cancer will also be tested in this research.
I am a reproductive biologist specialised in the cell and molecular biology of placental development in pregnancy. I focus on determining the molecular mechanisms that govern placental invasion, growth and function and how these are altered in defective placentation which underlies common complications of pregnancy that can be life threatening to the mother and her baby compromising a healthy start to life. I am developing screening tests to identify couples at risk to improve patient care.
Developmental Programming: Mechanisms And Interventions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$705,501.00
Summary
Disturbances during pregnancy can impact on developmental processes and result in increased risk of disease in later life. This project will examine the impact of perturbations such as maternal stress or alcohol consumption on the development of the placenta and fetal kidney. By gaining an understanding of how these organs are affected by prenatal insults, we are likely to be able to develop more effective intervention strategies to ensure all babies receive a healthy start to life.
Research Fellowship In Preventing HIV And HIV-related Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$772,490.00
Summary
This fellowship concerns HIV prevention and HIV-related cancer. In HIV prevention, Grulich will evaluate the success of elements of the new biomedical prevention approach to HIV, and highlight areas in which policy action can be taken to substantially reduce HIV transmission. In HIV related cancer, Grulich will determine whether HIV-associated cancers continue to occur at increased rates in the new era of prolonged survival of people with HIV, and investigate preventive approaches.
This project involves a unique interdisciplinary approach combining bioinformatics, biostatistics and mathematical biology to better understand the dynamics of infection and immunity. Using data from in vitro studies, animal models, and human infections, I aim to understand immune control and pathogen growth and evolution in HIV and malaria infection.
This fellowship is to support Professor Stephen Kent in generating new advances in vaccines to prevent HIV (the cause of AIDS) and Influenza (“The Flu”). HIV causes over 1.5 million deaths per year and no vaccine is currently available. Influenza causes around half a million deaths per year. Although the current Influenza vaccine is partially effective, improvements are needed for it to be able to protect against the many different strains of Influenza that can cause infection.
Advancing Nanomedicine Through Particle Technology
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$876,005.00
Summary
This proposal will support the development of advanced particle systems to improve the delivery of medicines in neurological diseases, HIV, diabetes and cancer. It will provide important insights for particle-based therapeutic delivery that are expected to underpin progress on nanotechnology in the areas of biology and medicine. These developments in nanotechnology-enabled medicines towards commercialisation will ultimately improve the health and quality of life of Australians.
Targeting Host Pathogen Interactions And Signalling Networks To Promote Death Of Infected Cells And Facilitate Pathogen Clearance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Summary
Preclinical models of infectious diseases including hepatitis B, HIV, tuberculosis and human herpes virus infections will be used to understand how pathogens interact with host cells. With this understanding we aim to identify which host cell signalling pathways play a critical role in limiting or faciliating pathogen persistence. After identifying the important cellular pathways we aim to target these host cell signalling components with clinical stage drugs to promote pathogen clearance.